Germinating VS Direct Planting

Anyone prefer to drop their seeds directly into soil vs. germinating them? I hate yanking the taproot off the papertowel when it gets stuck sometimes. Not to mention its kind of a pain to drop them taproot down into the soil. Wondering if anyone feels the same or has any input on this...

I've also read somewhere that you can scuff the seeds a little with a matchbox to help them sprout in soil. Sounds too violent for my liking....

JohnnyCream said:

Anyone prefer to drop their seeds directly into soil vs. germinating them? I hate yanking the taproot off the papertowel when it gets stuck sometimes. Not to mention its kind of a pain to drop them taproot down into the soil. Wondering if anyone feels the same or has any input on this...

I've also read somewhere that you can scuff the seeds a little with a matchbox to help them sprout in soil. Sounds too violent for my liking....

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Some scuff the seeds, it can help with older seeds but I don't find the need. There is nothing wrong with going straight into the medium. The one advantage I find in paper towel is not having to wait if your seed is not viable. With the paper towel method I know if it didn't pop, staight into soil you have to wait and see which can cost you days. Both ways work, just really a personal preference.

JohnnyCream said:

Anyone prefer to drop their seeds directly into soil vs. germinating them? I hate yanking the taproot off the papertowel when it gets stuck sometimes. Not to mention its kind of a pain to drop them taproot down into the soil. Wondering if anyone feels the same or has any input on this...

I've also read somewhere that you can scuff the seeds a little with a matchbox to help them sprout in soil. Sounds too violent for my liking....

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My own choice is this.

I soak my seeds for around 12-24hours in plain tap water.

then I plant them in my coco and set the lights to 18/6.

I grow from seed almost exclusively (unless I’m gifted clones) I never try more than 4 seeds. If all 4 germ then great. If only 2 pop I’ll give them a little extra veg and training to fill some more of the space.

My method is similar to jondamon's....

I soak my seeds in water just until they sink tho---sometimes that's 2.5 hours, other times 8. Then I plant them.

JohnnyCream said:

Anyone prefer to drop their seeds directly into soil vs. germinating them? I hate yanking the taproot off the papertowel when it gets stuck sometimes. Not to mention its kind of a pain to drop them taproot down into the soil. Wondering if anyone feels the same or has any input on this...

I've also read somewhere that you can scuff the seeds a little with a matchbox to help them sprout in soil. Sounds too violent for my liking....

Click to expand...

I've never used the paper towel method myself. I just plant the seed around finger nail depth, then water them in. dome on top for humidity, warm place until sprouted. Almost always sprout within a week.
Only opinion of course, I've always had the feeling it's better for the taproot to sprout directly into it's medium. It's just one part of human intervention that can be removed. I feel like the sprouts would have a better start that way.

Dropping the seed in soil, lite watering and dark humid spot is essentially identical to germinating so I've never understood why it takes longer when planting directly. I've always got seeds to sprout within like a day, a day and a half tops when I germ them, planting usually takes a few days up to a week...

Straight into soil no dome. Just mist the top to prevent it from drying out and wait for them to pop. 99.99999999999% success rate.

Always hated the paper towel method. Planting directly is so much easier. Of course has their own method that works for them; just got to find yours. I only pop seeds when my clones have run their course so I take my time and have a very high success rate using this method. Here’s what I do:

Use a small container to pop seed. I prefer yogurt size cups to beer cups but either is good; use a blade or something to cut holes/slices in the bottom and up the sides for good drainage and aeration.
Spent soil from a previous run or a starter mix is best for poppin seeds. Should be low in npk value; adding in some extra perlite and/or coco coir will improve aeration and/or water retention respectively. Adding a small amount of earthworm castings will help young roots develop and keeps a fairly stark mix active. Nothing else is needed for the first 3 weeks; water only!!!!
Fill up the cup, poke a finger hole in the center and drop in your seed. Pinch lightly to envelop the soil around the seed. Mist with a hand sprayer as needed to keep the soil moist but never saturated. Use a seed mat in cold that is less than ambient room temp. I drape a ziplock bag over the top to increase humidity but it must come off once there’s a stem visibly growing up.
Found out through years of importing beans from sources all over the world that many seed banks sell dead seeds. I mean...Who would you complain to about that except for RIU? So if you are having trouble popping off seeds don’t feel bad it may not be something you are doing. Only when I took two plants of the opposite sex and made them make seeds did I realize that healthy fresh beans pop off in a day or two most times. Fresh seed stock is much more viable than old shit; who knows how long your beans were sitting in a shelf before you ordered them? Try to source from domestic vendors whenever possible and do a seed run for yourself once you get established with genetics you like. It only sucks for one grow cycle to get free beans for life.

Seeds have been germinating without paper towels for thousands of years. Long before people have been wrapping them in paper towels.

I just recently did a seed run of some Ethiopian sativa. After harvesting most of the plant I left some sites still at the base of the plant with the thought of revegging. I stuck it outside and forgot about it. Noticed this the other day. Seeds that fell out of the plant and on top of the soil germinated just fine. No paper towel or any other unnecessary steps are needed. The proof is in the photo.

xtsho said:

Seeds have been germinating without paper towels for thousands of years. Long before people have been wrapping them in paper towels.

I just recently did a seed run of some Ethiopian sativa. After harvesting most of the plant I left some sites still at the base of the plant with the thought of revegging. I stuck it outside and forgot about it. Noticed this the other day. Seeds that fell out of the plant and on top of the soil germinated just fine. No paper towel or any other unnecessary steps are needed. The proof is in the photo.

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They are such resilient little buggers. I sprout mine while there's still frosts. So long as they're somewhere sunny during the day and covered during the night, they will come up.
Spun me out last year. Caught off guard with a late snow fall right when they were sprouting. Snow passed, melted, sunny day, seedlings were absolutely fine. Didn't even seem to slow them down.

Aussieaceae said:

They are such resilient little buggers. I sprout mine while there's still frosts. So long as they're somewhere sunny during the day and covered during the night, they will come up.
Spun me out last year. Caught off guard with a late snow fall right when they were sprouting. Snow passed, melted, sunny day, seedlings were absolutely fine. Didn't even seem to slow them down.

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I've tossed trimmings from seed plants in my garden beds and had them sprout early spring before the last frost from seeds that got mixed in.

JohnnyCream said:

Anyone prefer to drop their seeds directly into soil vs. germinating them? I hate yanking the taproot off the papertowel when it gets stuck sometimes. Not to mention its kind of a pain to drop them taproot down into the soil. Wondering if anyone feels the same or has any input on this...

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For me, it depends on the seed quality

If I trust the seeds, I will plant directly into soil/rockwool/plugs/etc...

If the seeds are not trustworthy (such as these Crap King hermie seeds) I will use the paper towel method so I can see which looks the strongest.

i Usually do the water soak then into coco method,but I received some 14 yr old seeds and did the scuff thing.. it worked well as I’m 12/13..

Im probably just gonna drop it right in to its forever home in a nice 3gal fab pot with some fox farm and watch it grow

JohnnyCream said:

Im probably just gonna drop it right in to its forever home in a nice 3gal fab pot with some fox farm and watch it grow

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That's all one can do, make the call and see how it goes. All you are really doing is following what nature has done since the beginning, hard to improve on that. Good luck.

Doug Dawson said:

That's all one can do, make the call and see how it goes. All you are really doing is following what nature has done since the beginning, hard to improve on that. Good luck.

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Thanks man I feel the same way

Use coffee filters rather than paper towels and the roots don't stick.

I think it is less risky to make sure your seed has popped before it is hidden from view and may or or may not get the right moisture levels.

Osric said:

Use coffee filters rather than paper towels and the roots don't stick.

I think it is less risky to make sure your seed has popped before it is hidden from view and may or or may not get the right moisture levels.

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I didnt know that, thanks for the suggestion!

Osric said:

Use coffee filters rather than paper towels and the roots don't stick.

I think it is less risky to make sure your seed has popped before it is hidden from view and may or or may not get the right moisture levels.

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I think it's more risky to handle a germinated seed rather than letting it germinate in the media it's going to be growing in. I don't understand what risk you're talking about. Put the seed in moist soil, water it lightly with a sprayer and keep the top moist. Wait a few days and if it's a viable seed it will break the surface and start growing.

There are seeds of some plant species that require additional steps to germinate like stratification but cannabis isn't one of them. Cannabis is PAG "plant and grow". I just came up with that term by the way.

I like to use jiffy pellets just because I don't have to get a whole pot ready for a seed that may not (but probably will) sprout. Those things are great because they're super easy to transplant up.

As others have said, I would rather not be touching the roots much if I can avoid it.